Residents demand widening of narrow Thazhambur Road

Residents of Navalur are calling for the widening of the narrow Thazhambur Road due to safety concerns and traffic congestion.

The Thazhambur Road in Navalur connecting Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR) and Thazhambur is quite narrow.

It is a single-lane road without hard shoulders, which means there is no mud on either side along most of the stretch. For the volume of traffic that it takes, which includes heavy vehicles such as water tankers and sand-laden lorries, residents say that it is high time that the road was made into a four-lane one.

Ashok Rajendran, a resident in the area for over 11 years, says he has seen a lot of accidents as there is no space along the sides of the road.

“Once an autorickshaw carrying schoolchildren fell off the road. Head-on collisions also happen. Recently, a speeding bike hit an autorickshaw as there had been no time or space to move aside. When it rains, both the sides get waterlogged. A little beyond Agni College, there are several large and dangerous potholes. Potholes developed on the road after a portion was dug up for laying a gas pipeline,” says Rajendran, adding that road-widening was the only way forward.

The road that people take to reach Ponmar, Polacheri and from there to Medavakkam and Madambakkam, is dark on many stretches and has karuvelam trees along one side. Ramesh, another resident, says that traffic jams are common here, especially during school hours.

“Even two cars cannot take the road at the same time,” he says and adds, “Once in a while, if someone with influence complains, the local panchayat will bring an earthmover and fill the road up with some earth. But when water tankers move on the road, the surface of the road sinks again.”

Ravi, a resident of Navalur, who works at Thazhambur, says the road is too dusty and becomes slushy when it rains. “There is more dust along the stretch towards Ponmar. When vehicles kick up dust, even the Google maps sometimes shows the visibility on the road as poor. There is no regular maintenance of the stretch,” says Mr. Ravi.